Chasing the Nightmares Away
by stelladelnordxd
Summary: Harry wakes up from a nightmare and goes to seek comfort from his godfather. Takes place in OOTP. Cross-posted to Ao3. Story is complete but the series is not.


**Authors Note:** This has been sitting on my computer for years. After cleaning out my writing folder, I finally decided to post the beauty. I'm sure at one point, there'll be more, since it was the first in a planned series. Hope you guys enjoy! :)

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_Everything around him was black, a black so dark that if he stuck his hand out in front of him, he wouldn't even be able to see it. His heart beat was pulsing against his chest, and he was afraid that anyone near him would have been able to hear it. He took a few steps forward, gulping as he did so, wanting to calm his over-fried nerves. He continued to take small steps up the worn stairs, cringing whenever one of them creaked. He could hear voices from up above him, in a room where the stairs led to. He didn't want to go up these stairs, didn't want to see what was in the room at the end of the hall._

_Except, he felt a pull from that general area, and it scared him. He knew the effects of the imperius spell and he knew when to know if you were under it and right now, he knew he was under a small one, almost like it was a compulsion spell._

_He shook his head, tried to repress the feeling of wanting to go to the room, but the curse was too strong and his feet continued to step up each step. Halfway up the stairs a smell hit his nostrils and caused him to gag silently._

_The smell was horrible – a rotting, decaying flesh kind of smell and it made him flinch and gag some more with each step he took up the stairs._

_The voices got louder, and before he knew it, he was standing in front of the door to the room at the end of the stairs, the stench stronger than ever._

_He recognized both voices immediately, feeling an irrational anger bubble up inside of him when someone spoke. _

"_The plan is almost complete, my master," A voice gravelled and he growled in anger, his skin turning red with the blood being pumped within him._

"_Good. You should bring our guest in." The voice says and he flinches, trying to step far away from the door, Voldemort, and Peter Pettigrew._

"_You can tell your old school friend that they'll be no hope trying to escape." The voice grumbles and Sirius' heart pounds even faster before and his feet nearly tangle within themselves before suddenly, the door opens wide and he can see a feral looking Pettigrew smirking at him from within._

_He gulps, straightens his body posture, won't show any fear. He narrows his eyes at the traitor he once called his best friend. He briefly sees glowing red eyes and he doesn't let his own eyes widen to show his fear._

_He's pretty sure his heart is showing how afraid he is itself._

_He tries to take a step back but before he realizes what's going on, Pettigrew is pushing him forward. He can see Voldemort grin and he knows that his time is coming. He doesn't know why he was here in the first place, but he knows he won't be able to say goodbye to the one's he loves. Remus. Harry._

_Oh, Harry. He knows Harry's going to take his death the hardest. He can only hope it doesn't change him._

"_Sirius Black." Voldemort screeches and Sirius narrows his eyes and clenches his fists, making sure not to prove anything to the half-blood with the pureblood motives. Voldemort chuckles in some sort of weird fashion before raising his wand._

_He doesn't even need to say the words before a jet of green light is coming out of the wand. Sirius' eyes go wide and before he has a chance to move –_

"SIRIUS!" Harry potter shouts, waking up from his nightmare panting as sweat rolls down his body. His eyes are wide as they canvas the room he's in, thankful that he was given his own room for the Christmas holiday. Through the darkness and the moon shining through his window, he can see that his blankets are all over him, his sheets kicked to the ground and two of his pillows knocked away from him.

Harry closes his eyes briefly, tries to calm his heart and his nerves. He knows that Sirius is somewhere around this horrible house of his, knows there's no need to worry but at the same time, not being able to see his god-father is beginning to trouble him.

Running his fingers through his hair, Harry quickly kicks the rest of the blankets off of him and slowly stands up, shivering as he does so. He makes his way out of his room, opening the door quietly and slowly so it doesn't creak in any obvious way, and then exits his doorway, shutting the door the same way he opened it.

It takes a couple of seconds to get used to the lighting change – there's no moon to shine on anything now, and all of the heads of dead elves are creepy in the night as bumps on the wall.

Harry goes down the first step – letting out a soft sigh of relief when it doesn't make any noise before going down the second, third, fourth and fifth before stopping at the sound of the creak. He pauses mid-step before letting out another sigh of relief and continued on his way.

Minutes later, he's finally reached the end of the stairs, and looks in front of him, nearly jumping out of his skin. He wasn't expecting anyone to be in the kitchen – hell, he wasn't expecting anyone to be awake at the late hour that it was. However, he shouldn't have been surprised to see his godfather at the kitchen island, sipping something out of a large muggle coffee mug that smelled similar to the muggle alcohol, Brandy. Harry blinked one, two, three times before he realized that Sirius had been looking at him with an arched eyebrow, having just said something he couldn't have heard.

"What?" Harry questioned, putting his hands into the pockets of his pyjama pants, shifting uncomfortably on his feet, not sure what was going to happen tonight. He notices Sirius lean back in his chair, spread his legs out to their greatest length, and can't help but shift once more.

"I asked if you wanted some hot chocolate." Sirius replies with a small smile as Harry whispers to himself, rolling the name of the drink around on his tongue. He plays with some fabric in the bottoms of his pockets, and before he can help himself,

"Why would you want to have hot chocolate with me?" He questions, eyes going wide as a blush forms on his cheeks. He's thankful that the room is mostly bathed in blackness, very little light coming from the lit fireplace so that Sirius can't see the blush, but he hears his godfather chuckle nonetheless.

"Because, pup. You're my godson, and I feel like I know nothing about you. It's clear though, that you need someone to talk to, and I'm willing to be that someone, if you'll let me." Sirius replies, ending his statement with a pat to the chair next to him. Harry pauses briefly, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet before going to sit next to his god-father. As he sits down and gets himself comfortable, he's surprised to find a mug of hot chocolate in front of him, steam rising off of the top, making Harry push the mug away from him for the time being.

"So, why are you up so late?" Sirius questions while he takes a sip of his own mug, his eyes staying on Harry. After a couple of seconds of drumming his fingers on the island top, Harry grabs his mug and pulls it towards him, playing with the handle to distract himself. Harry remains quiet for a couple of minutes before sighing and bringing the mug to his lips, having a small sip of the rich, hot chocolate.

"Ever since dreaming about ," Harry begins, taking another sip of his hot chocolate before setting it down as the sip burns his throat.

"You've been having more nightmares?" Sirius questions while flicking his wand to brighten the fire nearby. Harry nods his head, looking at the fireplace before he sighs, his eyes flicking to Sirius'. Sirius is looking straight back at him, his body slouched showing his ease of relax in his current chair, and Harry smiles lightly, wondering if he could ever be that comfortable in this house. It surprises him actually, that Sirius could be relaxed in this house.

"How do you do that?" He questions, eyes going wide with embarrassment as another blush reaches his face. He watches Sirius tilt his head and arch an eyebrow, and Harry sighs.

"How can you seem so relaxed in a place like this?" Harry questions once more, and Sirius smiles again, straightening up and leaning against the table, looking at Harry dead-on. He notices Sirius sigh, and wishes he could take back the question.

It's too late now, though.

"It's quite simple, actually." Sirius begins, playing with his own mug, "I'm not truly relaxed." He finishes with a scoff, shaking his head. Harry looks down before letting out his own sigh.

"I had a nightmare – but instead of being a snake to kill Arthur," Harry begins, fiddling and trying to escape the nightmare, "Instead, I was you – and I was—" Harry begins, looking down and shaking his head, trying to control his emotions. Next thing he knows, Sirius' hand is on his shoulder, and he's being spun to face his god-father.

"You saw me die, but through my own eyes?" Sirius questions, and Harry nods, wiping his eyes. He didn't even want to think about Sirius dying, and the nightmare had hit a rough spot for him, which Harry was sure Sirius could see.

"Harry," Sirius mutters while pulling him in for a hug. It surprises Harry, because he hasn't actually been hugged like this in a long time from someone other than Mrs. Weasley. Within a couple of seconds however, Harry puts his arms around Sirius to reciprocate the hug, holding on tightly.

"I don't want you to die, Sirius." Harry sobs, the floodgates coming loose as Sirius rubs his back. The two of them stay like that for at least five minutes, Sirius letting Harry sob into his chest, letting all of his emotions out. After, Harry lets out a deep breath, finally feeling some relaxation enter his body.

"You don't let your emotions out often, do you pup?" Sirius whispers into Harry's hair, rubbing Harry's back in a comforting way. Harry lifts his head up slightly, shaking it in reply.

"I don't really have anyone to tell," He mumbles as he lets go of his god-father and rids his eyes of the tears.

"Not even Ron or Hermione?" Sirius questions while looking Harry up and down in worry. Harry bites his lip before shaking his head.

"They would worry unnecessarily and –" Harry begins before sighing and going into Sirius' open arms once more –"And they wouldn't really understand." He finishes. He feels Sirius begin to rub his back again and the two of them stay like that for what feels like forever.

Shortly after however, they break apart and Harry has another sip of his hot chocolate, wrinkling his nose at a new taste.

"Did you put brandy in this?" He chuckles lightly. Sirius gives him a small wink with a smile, sipping his own drink.

"How long have you been having nightmares, pup?" He questions, ruffling Harry's hair. Harry smiles briefly, shrugging.

"A couple of months." He replies honestly since he knows he can trust Sirius. Sirius nods his head, taking another sip of his own drink before sighing.

"Harry, no matter what happens, I'm always going to be here for you," Sirius says, looking at Harry seriously as Harry looks at the ground.

"I – I know that, I do but—" Harry begins as he starts shaking.

"But you still don't want me dead?" Sirius interrupts, awe in his voice as Harry nods. Harry looks at Sirius, looks at him fully before looking down with a blush.

"Sirius, of course I don't want you dead. I—" Harry begins before he sighs.

"What?" Sirius questions while bringing his cup to the empty sink and warming up Harry's half-filled one.

"I see you like the father I never had," Harry mumbles as he plays with his mug and watches Sirius freeze. "I mean, I know you're _not_ my father but you're the only one who fills that role and knows what my actual dad would have wanted and you treat me how I want to be treated and not like I'm some little kid who needs kid gloves and—"

"Harry, breathe." Sirius chuckles, wrapping Harry in a hug. Harry stops talking as he tries to control his breathing.

"C'mon pup, let's go up to bed." Sirius says as he puts Harry's empty mug in the sink before walking up the stairs with his arm around Harry's shoulders. When they finally reach the landing, Harry is led to Sirius' room instead of the one he took over, which is on the opposite end of the hallway. When the two of them finally enter Sirius' room, Sirius leads them to his bed and they lay down, Harry hugging his godfather tightly.

"I love you like a son, you know that right pup?" Sirius whispers before kissing the top of Harry's head. Harry smiles lightly, snuggling in closer to his godfather. "And I won't leave you, Harry." Sirius finishes.

"I wouldn't be able to –" Harry sighs before closing his eyes.

"I can't lose you Siri." He finishes.

"And you won't. How about this. Whenever you have a nightmare, come see me. Whenever it is, wherever we are, come find me and I'll talk to you." Sirius replies.

Harry nods his head. "What about when I go back to Hogwarts?"

"Remember that gift I gave you?" Harry nods, feeling guilty remembering that he hasn't opened it yet.

"It will help you get into contact with me in case anything goes wrong." Sirius says. It's the last thing Harry remembers hearing before he falls asleep, knowing he is safe in Sirius' arms – that the nightmares won't come.

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**Authors Note Two: **For those curious about my reading the books series - since I know someone will ask - please, look at my for reading/reviewing, guys


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